Out of Body Experiences
by Dark-Plague2863
Summary: In the aftermath of the Third Impact, Shinji awakens only to find himself in the Alternative Universe invisioned in Episode 26. And to top things off, he has no memories of this new life, only the horrific memories from his previous existance... 4TH UP!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there everyone! Here's my second attempt at writing a piece of fanfiction. The first got some positive response, but then went up in flames when school interfered… I won't let the same happen to this one, because I genuinely like this idea. So here we go, my second fanfiction ever: Out Of Body Experiences!**

**Pre-read by Voidhawk of the Dark Icon Writers: Danke schön mein Freund!**

**Disclaimer: All characters and places revolving around Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to the great Gainax. (Bows before feet).

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**Out of Body Experiences**

After everything that had happened today, it was hard for Shinji to tell what was real or not anymore. He knew that he was depressed, he knew that Nerv was attacked, and he knew that Asuka was dead… But after that, nothing made sense… It was almost as if he had been sucked into the plot of some kind of horror film…

Of course, he had pretty much already lived in a horror film, the horror film Shinji liked to call his day-to-day life. Living in a fortressed city, fighting off giant alien-like creatures called angels, piloting the enormous biomechanical behemoths called Evangelions, he would have been deemed mad if he had lived anywhere except the confines of Tokyo 3. He had experienced more pain and anguish in one lifetime than most of the entire human population.

But even compared to all of that, this was just ridiculous… Within the last hour or so, Shinji had experienced the awakening of a demon, the return of an "irretrievable Lance of Longinus", getting crucified, and watching a giant, white, glowing form of one of his most trusted comrades rise out of the ground below him. Now top that off with the virtual destruction of the human race, and you have enough to drive anybody mad, Shinji included. He just couldn't believe it, and started to believe his mind was in fact playing tricks on him.

However, this seemed real enough… kind of… He could feel everything, but then couldn't feel a thing at the same time… It was almost as if he was part of the very air around him. Ironically, he wasn't too far off. He slowly opened his eyes, and saw a very familiar face looking back down at him.

"Ayanami?… Where are we?"

"We are in the Sea of LCL. The sea of the origin of life. This is the world without AT Fields, and therefore, without your own shape."

Shinji looked around at his surroundings. Sure enough, his body was pretty much merged with Reis. He wouldn't have believed it himself if her arms weren't inside of his chest. They were both lying in the middle of a seemingly endless orange sea, and yet the moon still lay above them in the now orange sky. Rei continued her explanation.

"You can't tell the difference between one person or another. An ambiguous world. You're everywhere in this world, and you're also nowhere in this world. A silent world"

The question had been ringing in Shinji's mind since he had awoken, so he asked it, "I died?"

"No, everything has just combined into one."

He was relieved to hear those words, but something wasn't right about this place, it just felt wrong… Rei continued again.

"This is the world you've been hoping for Ikari-kun… It is like this…"

Shinji looked around again. Yes he wasn't lonely. He no longer felt the same pains he had felt his own life. Here, people couldn't keep themselves as individuals. Here, people couldn't hurt him anymore. Yet… Yet this was all so wrong… It shouldn't be this way… It was then Shinji remembered the presence of something in his hand. He opened it, and out floated the cross Misato had given him right before her death… Misato had… died… How many had died today? How much pain was experienced by all of these people? Here… they didn't need to feel that pain… here… they were safe from it all… but here… wasn't reality, it just couldn't be.

"But… this isn't it. I don't think this is it…"

"If you hope that other people exist again, your heart will separate everyone once more." Rei answered, "But… you will be frightened of other people again."

Shinji still wasn't sure about how he would respond to being like that again, but at least that was reality, he could be sure of that. Here, nothing felt real, and nothing was his to feel… Any reality is better than this dream…

"It doesn't matter…"

Shinji lightly grabbed hold of Rei's arm, and she began to pull it out of his chest. He had never really seen Rei in this light… The way she smiled down at him was entrancing, and the way she spoke, was just mesmerizing to the ears Everything was topped of by the beauty the moon's light gave her from behind. Yes, it really didn't matter. As long as he could be with the people he knew, the people that at least he knew he cared about. None of it mattered if there were at least a few people he trusted around him in the real world. He lightly took Rei's hand, and said the only words that came to his mind…

"Thank you…"

He got up and lay his head down on Rei's thigh. He felt so comfortable here… was it because of being one with everyone? Or was it just being here with Rei? Now that got him thinking… 'Why did I see Ayanami? Why not Kaworu, or Misato? Or even Asuka?' Deep down, his mind was shouting back at him, 'You know why, you feel comfortable around her… She's like you. Probably the one person who's the most like you… Whether it's the Second Rei or not.'

That thought made him shudder. The Third Rei was… so different… It was like all of the progress Rei had made during that lifetime just suddenly faded away. Her personality, her life, her memories, all just vanishing into thin air After visiting this new Rei, he knew that something was wrong. She didn't even seem to remember who he was… or anything before hand. But it was only after Dr. Ritsuko Akagi showed him what lay in the depths of Terminal Dogma did he really begin to fear the new Rei. He just couldn't bring himself to face her now knowing what she was… But the Rei next to him now, she was just like the old Rei… so much so… it must have been what was making him so calm… He felt that he could tell her anything, and she could sympathize with him… Shinji had begun to talk again without even realizing it…

"I felt that there were only hateful things… So running away just felt right… But even when I ran away, I couldn't find a better place, because I'm not in that world… In fact…no one is there. Everything's the same…"

"If you make the AT Fields once more and hurt yourself, is that okay?"

Shinji looked up, and found that this new voice was his deceased friend Kaworu. Normally, he would have been freaking out, or joyous, or a strange mix of the two. But right now, after everything that had happened… he didn't care… He was just glad to be here with his two most trusted friends trying to make this decision. He just answered Kaworu, and went on to ask another thought of his that had been troubling him… What made them so special to him? Why did he feel that they were so trusting, why did he feel so safe and happy around his two friends more than anyone else he knew…

"I don't really care… But what are the two of you that are inside of my heart?"

Rei was the one to respond first this time,

"Hope, that humans may be able to understand each other… that means-"

"The word called 'Love'" Kaworu interrupted.

Shinji felt like most of his questions about both this world, and his old world had been answered. But he still felt the need to talk about it… he didn't know if he would ever feel this safe again…

"But that's just appearance… a self intoxicating thought. Just like praying… I can't continue like that forever… Finally, one day, I will be betrayed… Everyone will leave me behind…"

Rei and Kaworu just stood smiling at him, as if they knew completely what he was speaking of. They were in fact happy that he was going to be making this choice for mankind, they both wanted the humans to be able to live on their own… They listened on as Shinji finished and voiced out his final decision.

"But… I want to meet those people again, because I truly believe that those feelings at that time were real…"

Shinji felt he had made the right choice, he slowly felt his own senses beginning to come back to him. He could smell, he could feel, he could even taste the blood-like LCL around him… 'God… glad I don't have to spend an eternity here…'

But then everything just went wrong, the people around him just vanished, first Rei, and then Kaworu. Shinji panicked. Had he forgotten about them? What would happen to his two best friends, or those who had died before the Third Impact? What had he done…

'WHAT HAVE I DONE?'

And then everything was black…

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Shinji felt a presence in his subconscious nagging at him. Even in sleep, he was bothered… or so he thought until he recognized the presence he hadn't felt in so long…

"…Mother?"

"So, everything will be fine then?"

Shinji was shocked by that reply almost as much as being in the presence of his mother again. She had asked almost exactly what he was trying to figure out. Would everything be fine now? Will everything go back to how it should be? Will everyone he cares about be able to come back unharmed? And lastly…

"Where can I find happiness? I don't know yet… But here, what will happen if I remain here? I'd have to continue to think about that from now on." Shinji's answer was ever slowly convincing himself that he was doing the right thing, his doubts were slowly fading away, "But in the end, I found out that it's just common sense. Because I am myself…"

Even after convincing himself, he just had to ask… he just had to know…  
"But mother… what is going to happen to you mother?"

…No answer.

"Mother? Mother? MOTHER? WHERE ARE YOU! DON'T LEAVE NOW!"

Shinji began running. He was running away from the truth again, even in his own mind. His mother was dead, he knew this, but he had just felt her… He just couldn't face the obvious truth after everything that had happened. He just ran, and ran, hoping he could find something, anything that could help make him feel complete.

"SOMEONE? ANYONE! HELP ME!"

And then again, black…

* * *

After what seemed like an eternity, Shinji slowly began to come back to the realm of the conscious. As he slowly regained his senses, he noticed something… He felt warm, and covered up… Almost like he was… in a bed? Shinji quickly opened his eyes, and looked up. Only for him to end up muttering the phrase that seemed to have haunted him over the last year at Tokyo 3, "Another Unfamiliar Ceiling…"

Surely enough, he was lying in bed. But where was this? This most certainly wasn't his ceiling, and most definitely not his bed. He sat up cautiously and looked around this new atmosphere. He saw what looked like a normal teenagers room. There were posters, school supplies, and all of the standard furniture set up around the room. This verified that he wasn't in the hospital, but this DEFINATLEY wasn't his room… Where was he? And then another thought quickly came back to him, bringing him back to the last things he was thinking before he went unconscious. 'Where Is everyone! What have I done to them? Did I do the right thing?'

The next voice he heard froze his blood, and halted his thoughts right where they had been

"SHINJI NO BAKA!"

"WHY AREN'T YOU AWAKE YET!"

'That voice… it couldn't be, could it? She… she was dead… She had died… fighting the MP Evas… I…I saw it with my own eyes… She was… she had…'

But sure enough, the door swung open, and in walked a seemingly perfectly healthy and untouched Asuka Langley Sohryu, in school uniform and all. And boy, she didn't look happy. But right now, Shinji was too happy to really care about the minor details

"ASUKA! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Shinji shouted as he leaped on Asuka and brought her into a tight hug, bringing them both to the ground. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

Shinji was quickly shoved off of her onto the floor, and was also quickly scolded for his actions with a quick slap.

"Anta baka hentai! What do you think you're doing?" Asuka said while she stood up and brushed off her skirt, "Of course I'm alive! Why wouldn't I be!"

'Why wouldn't she be? Why wouldn't she be! She was torn apart! Her Eva was ripped limb from limb! She- unless…'

"It was all a dream?" Shinji said unsurely. But it couldn't possibly just have been a dream, could it? 'Everything had looked… so real…wait a minute…'

"Where's Ayanami! And Kaworu! Misato?" He shouted out each name with more and more tension. What had happened? Was it really all just a dream? Were they all really ok?

Asuka sighed and looked at the ceiling again, "Can't you appreciate the fact that I went to the trouble of coming to wake you up? Don't you have any words of appreciation for your oldest childhood friend?"

At that, Shinji paused. Asuka said she was his…what? 'My oldest childhood friend? Since when? What does she mean coming to wake me up, doesn't she live here too?' Shinji just decided to play along, he needed his answers before anything else.

"Alright Asuka, thank you! But do you know where they are? I need to know!"

Asuka looked perplexed by his question,

"Man, you're acting really strange this morning… Kaworu's probably already at school, and Misato-sensei is never on time! She's still probably sleeping at home!"

'Wait, did she say Kaworu was at school? Misato-sensei? What's going on? Why'd she avoid mentioning Ayanami? Oh God… don't tell me she's…'

"And Ayanami? Where's she! Tell me she's alright too!"

At this point Asuka just looked plain annoyed, 'I come to wake him up and here he is ranting like a madman…what kind of screwed up dream did he have?'

"Who's Ayanami?" She asked to answer his final question. That answer sent a shock through his spine… 'What do you mean who's Ayanami? She's your mortal enemy! Wondergirl! The doll! How can you not remember?'

"Sweetie! Aren't you going to go to school?"

For the second time this morning, Shinji's blood ran cold. He had heard that voice before, somewhere, and for some reason, he couldn't place it. If he thought he could be any more shocked, he was proven correct by the next voice that came from outside.

"Shinji, we don't want to have to call up Miss Katsuragi again, you've missed enough school this year."

'Father!'

Shinji practically ran outside of his room to locate the two voices, leaving a still confused Asuka behind. When he entered the kitchen, he almost died of shock right there. Sitting at the table was his Father, Gendo Ikari, just silently reading the daily newspaper, a light smile spread across his face as he went through the comics page "Yui dear, is Shinji's lunch ready?"

No… did he just say what Shinji thought he said? His mother was dead, yet…the voices he heard before were…

"Yes Anata! I left it by the door for him so he could pick it up on the way out!" Yui Ikari poked her head into the kitchen and looked at Shinji with a smile, "Are you heading out soon sweetie?"

The sight before him just froze him. He responded the only way his body would allow him to, "Yah…" Shinji turned around and walked into the bathroom, starting to get ready for the day.

Yui looked genuinely confused as Asuka came into the kitchen and leaned against a wall. "What's wrong with Shinji?"

Asuka just shrugged and sighed, before responding, "I have no idea, I guess he just had a weird dream or something…He kept on mentioning some Ayanami girl… I don't really feel like prying right now."

Yui just shrugged and went back to her morning work. "Anata, you have to get ready for work too." She waited for an answer, but only got a low "Un" In response. "Good gosh…you're just like Shinji…" She was starting to get a bit flustered, "I'm the one who gets complaints from Fuyutsuki-sensei if you're late for the meeting…"

To this, she heard a low grunt and a small chuckle. "That's true, He IS your biggest fan."

Yui just rolled her eyes and continued washing the dishes. "Oh you… Cut that out and get ready!" Again, all she got as a response was a quick "Un." This time however followed by a short, "I know Yui."

It was the same every morning… she wasn't sure if Shinji inherited his laziness from his father, or if it was a bad habit that Gendo picked up from Shinji Either way, it was annoying as hell… "GO GET READY!"

She heard him jump in his seat, and after a few seconds heard him get up and head to the bedroom. 'There, that wasn't too hard!' Yui thought while she inwardly smiled at her forwardness. She continued to clean and put away the dished when she heard a voice from the doorway call, "We're leaving now!" Followed by a less enthusiastic, "I'm leaving…" She recognized the first voice as Asuka's and the second as Shinji's, and replied back quickly, "See you later sweetie! Have a good day!" before again turning towards the bedroom, "Anata! Hurry up already, you're going to be late!"  
"I know Yui" Gendo replied as he walked into the kitchen. "I'm heading out now."

Gendo gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek before exiting the house as well. Leaving an annoyed Yui behind in the kitchen. "I am going to get those two motivated in the morning if it's the last thing I do…"

A mile or so down the road, Shinji and Asuka could be seen running down the sidewalk heading for school. Shinji was more confused than he had ever been. What was going on? His mother was supposed to be dead, but there she was in the kitchen, acting as if nothing was out of the norm. And his father… his father! He looked like a normal person! He had even smiled, and he had called Shinji by his first name… He knew he should've been glad, but he was far too confused right now to be feeling anything else. His thoughts were soon interrupted by his red haired companion.

"Hey, we're going to be getting a new girl in the class today, aren't we?"

Shinji wasn't quite sure how to answer this question. He honest to God didn't know. All of these new things, all of these changes. People were acting like things had always been like this… and yet…he had no memory of this life at all. His thoughts and memories still lingered on his past life in Tokyo 3, and the Evas…But if he told everyone that, they'd probably think he was mad… He decided right there and then to try to blend in for as long as possible.

"Yah, I think so. I wonder what she's like!" He replied enthusiastically, "I hope she's cute!"

The last comment seemed to rile up Asuka a bit, but she quickly dismissed it as Shinji trying to get on her nerves. They continued on their trip down the sidewalk, and Asuka began to hear a faint voice on the other side of the granite wall to their left

"Oh crap, I'm late! I'm late! I can't be late on the first day!"

Asuka quickly realized what was about to happen, but couldn't warn Shinji quickly enough as he smashed into the blue haired girl emerging from the other side of the wall, sending them both flying backwards onto the ground.

"Ow… son of a…" Shinji murmured as he gripped his forehead while leaning on the ground before looking up at who he had run into. For the forth time that day, his blood froze. "…Ayanami…?"

Sure enough, Rei, or at least someone that looked exactly like her, was on the ground rubbing her head as Shinji was. Shinji couldn't believe it! She was alive as well! As strange as this new place seemed, it looked like everything was turning out right. Rei looked up at Shinji and immediately covered up her dress, thinking he was "sneaking a peek".

"Sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm in a hurry!" She apologized quickly as she stood up and began to run off. "Again, sorry!"

Shinji just stood there flabbergasted. The only other person that had seen everything during Third Impact… didn't even remember his face…No, he wouldn't accept that. He had to try…

"AYANAMI! WAIT!"

Rei froze. While she was worried about getting to school late, her curiosity was peeked when she learnt that somehow this boy knew her name. 'Could he be… a stalker!' That one thought was all she needed to keep running towards the school, leaving a broken Shinji behind.

'This isn't right…' Shinji thought. 'No one remembers… anything…Where am I? In some kind of alternate universe? Is this what Mother meant? I CANT TAKE LIVING LIKE THIS!'

Asuka at this point was concerned. Shinji had already fallen back to his knees and was shaking. While she REALLY didn't want to know what was going on, she felt that it was her duty to help her friend. "Shinji, what's wrong?"

"…"

"Shinji?"

"…"

"Shinji!"

"…why?…"

"What Shinji?"

It was that moment he snapped, pulling his head back and letting out an ear shattering scream towards the sky,

**"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?"

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**Alright, leave it on the edge there for chapter one. Hmmm, that turned out better than I thought it would! Now since I actually like this idea, I wouldn't be surprised if I can finish the next chapter some time next week. (Assuming school doesn't get in my way…) Please leave reviews if you enjoyed it, or wish to say something about the story! Flame if you must, I'll just laugh you off anyhow, so go right ahead and waste your time flaming me if you so desire, just one more review for me!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, sorry that this second chapter took forever, life seemed to want to interfere again. Im gonna try to squeeze in as much of the next chapter as I can during winter vacation, so we'll see how it all turns out. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Preread by Voidhawk of the Phoenix Souls. Danke Schon meinem Freund!**

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Asuka at this point was concerned. Shinji had already fallen back to his knees and was shaking. While she REALLY didn't want to know what was going on, she felt that it was her duty to help her friend.

"Shinji, what's wrong?"

"…"

"Shinji?"

"…"

"Shinji!"

"…why?…"

"What Shinji?"

At that moment he snapped, pulling his head back and letting out an ear shattering scream towards the sky,

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?"

Asuka jumped back from Shinji's sudden emotional outburst. She had never seen him so emotional, even when he was breaking up with an old girlfriend! Honest to God, Asuka really had no idea what to say or do in this situation. In the past, she would just comfort him, but right now, he just looked emotionally unstable…

"Shinji…"

Shinji hadn't said a word since the scream, but there he was on the cold pavement, shivering, confused, trying to figure out what to do next. Everyone he had known… they didn't remember anything. Or was it him that couldn't remember? Was the whole EVA experience just a bad dream?

To say the least, he was confused. 'Ok, first, I need to compose myself!'

He slowly got up, wiped his eyes, and turned to face Asuka, giving her the best fake grin his face could muster. "I'll be alright, lets head to school."

Asuka realized he probably wasn't in the best mental shape right now, but it didn't sound like she was going to be able to convince him to go back home. She concluded that she'd just have to pry something out of him later, after meeting him in a more stable state.

For the time being, she just nodded, and started to follow Shinji down the sidewalk towards their destination. There was still one thing on her mind though, and she just HAD to know before they got to school.

"How'd you know that girl's name was Ayanami? She didn't act like you had ever seen each other before."

That comment made Shinji do a quick double take, before slowly turn to face Asuka. She immediately regretted asking that, after noticing the pure sad look he was displaying. "I REALLY don't want to talk about it…"

To that, Asuka nodded. 'Probably just some old girlfriend or something…' She concluded mentally.

"I'll tell you about it later, alright Asuka? I understand that I have been acting a bit… off today."

Now Asuka was really caught off guard by that one.

'Since when did he ever want to discuss his feelings?'

'What in the world is up with Shinji today?'

Never the less, her curiosity was peaked. But her conscious just HAD to get the better of her on this particular day… 'Don't try to pry now when he doesn't want to talk about it. You should consider yourself lucky that he's going to talk to you about it at all! Selfish German who…'

"Hurry up Asuka! We're gonna be late for class no matter HOW late Misato-san is at this rate!"

Asuka had been so caught up thinking, she didn't notice that she had started to lag behind. She immediately ran a bit to catch up to her male counterpart

"Oh, sorry! Guess I kind of just got lost in my thoughts." She said flashing a brief grin.

'Did Asuka just apologize to ME!' Shinji let the thought dance around in his head a little before just trashing it entirely.

'Well, I guess enough weird crap has been going on today, why not this? You couldn't surprise me right now if I walked into school and found out that Kensuke had converted to Mormonism…'

Unfortunately for Shinji's sanity, this wasn't too far from the truth…

"WHAT! Did you see her panties?" Asked a completely flabbergasted Touji Suzuhara.

While this had put Shinji into a rather embarrassing situation, he figured this was the perfect opportunity to look for any changes in either of his two friends He held all the cards here. He put on the most convincing face he could and said, "Well, it wasn't really a good look. Just a little flash."

Touji's reaction to this little morsel of info was the first thing Shinji had seen all day that he could really dub 'normal'. His jock friend griped his forehead and leaned backwards, letting out a slightly annoyed, "I can't believe you're the one who has all the luck- ow OW OW OW OW! WHAT'D YA DO THAT FOR, CLASS REP!"

The fore-mentioned class rep, Hikari Horaki, had apparently snuck into the vicinity while they were talking. And by the way she had hold on Touji's ear, it didn't look like she was too appreciative of the current conversation

"Suzuhara! Just what exactly were you talking about!"

'Holy crap… is it just me, or did Hikari get a lot scarier?' Shinji thought as she was talking. He made another mental note not to mess with her in this lifetime.

"Go change the water in the flower vase right now Suzuhara! Understood!"

"Yes ma'am…"

As Shinji watched a defeated Touji head for the front desk, he decided that he could take this time to pry some information out of Kensuke. And while he was at it, he might as well see if there were any notable changes in his otaku friend "Geez Kensuke, poor Touji's so hen-pecked… Are they going out or something?"

Kensuke seemed rather bored at that comment and just nodded, before responding, "Probably, they've been acting like that for at least a week now. I'm surprised you never brought it up before now."

Now Shinji had definitely not expected this reaction. From Kensuke, he was expecting the worst. He figured he would have been ranting on about their sex lives or something to that sort. Then, something horrific came back to his mind from earlier that day.

"Kensuke? You're not a Mormon by chance… are you?"

Kensuke stuck a happy grin on his face, and answered back in the most disgusting happy cheery voice Shinji had ever heard.

"Why yesindeedyaleedoody!"

Shinji had to use every ounce of his self control to keep himself from bashing in Kensuke's face after that answer. 'How could anything be that disgustingly cheery!'

While Kensuke was unaware of Shinji's mental plight, his physical health was saved at that instant by the sound of a car screeching into the parking lot outside. Touji and many of the other class males could be seen rushing to the windows excitedly, much to the chagrin of many female members.

"Ah! It's Misato-sensei!" Touji shouted as he had his head sticking out the window. Even Kensuke was filming this 'special' occasion. "Ohhh, she's so gorgeous!"

Shinji couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the actions of his classmates. By the way she drove in, Shinji figured that Misato couldn't have changed very much… so it didn't warrant him getting very excited about it. Being as shortsighted as he is however, he didn't take into account the type of responses he would be getting from this.

"Hey, Shin-man, there something wrong? Normally you go ecstatic when Misato-sensei shows up!" Touji just couldn't understand why Shinji was just sitting there, he was probably the most obsessed of all the students when it came to their young teacher. "You sick or something man?"

Shinji had been caught off guard, and he knew it. 'Crap! Since when was Touji this observant!' "No! I was just thinking about some stuff…" He made a deep thoughtful face to add the finishing touch to his cover up.

"Whatever man, your loss."

The incessant bickering of the class resumed for another three minutes until the door was opened, and the Sex Goddess Gone Terribly Wrong known as Misato walked into the room, gaining a couple of cheers and whistles from some of the aforementioned male students. Shinji was about to get his stuff ready for class when he heard Asuka say to him from behind, "Hey, isn't that the girl you ran into earlier?"

Shinji looked up, and sure enough, Misato had a certain blue-haired schoolgirl companion following her quite closely into the room. Shinji was paralyzed.

'Rei…'

Before he could form another coherent thought, Hikari shut his subconscious up with the ol', "Stand up! Bow! Sit down!" routine. Shinji was hoping to quickly reorganize his thoughts, but quick speaking on the part of Misato squashed that hope in its entirety.

"Lighten up guys! Today, we've got a new blue-haired gal' here to introduce herself!" She quickly stepped out of the way to reveal the said "blue haired gal'".

"My name is Rei Ayanami! Nice to meet you all!" she greeted the class enthusiastically. Rei began to scan the room and the new people around her, when one face caught her attention.

'It's that same kid from earlier!'

Misato waited for a few seconds while Rei inspected her new classroom before asking the one question that stood between her and starting her class. "Alright Rei! Where would you like to sit?"

While Rei tried to make the process seem like it was requiring some thought, she had picked out her seat before Misato had even asked the question.

"How about… right here!" she said while walking over and sitting to the desk right in between Shinji and Kensuke. (If you can't figure out why they've been separated in a school environment, then stop reading this fic and re-take the 4th grade)

Having gotten that distraction out of the way, Misato took attendance, and started her class.

Shinji was caught off guard by two different things in about a time span of four seconds. Firstly, the lesson had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Second Impact. Secondly, Rei had been poking his shoulder since the class had started

"Yes Ayanami?" Shinji inquired to his once well known peer.

"You're the kid that ran into me on the way here, right?" Rei asked him quietly.

"Yah, sorry about that. I wasn't watching where I was going." Shinji slightly bowed his head to show his apologies.

Rei looked slightly irked by him trying to avoid what she was obviously trying to get to. "Who are you and how did you know my name?"

Before any form of an answer could be given to this last question, Misato decided to shut her students up in a way only she could possibly do. "Shinji! Rei! You two can start putting together that one night stand AFTER we're done with class!" She added with a suggestive wink, "Alright?"

As the entire class broke into laughter (except for Asuka, who probably could have broken her desk in two by moving at that exact moment), Shinji managed to spit back one thing, "Meet me after class! We can talk about it then!"

Rei simply nodded, and the two of them waited for the laughter to die down so that class could be resumed.

* * *

The class bell went off, and the Rep went through again what we are from this point on going to be called "The Routine".

While the rest of the class got up and excitedly ran off to lunch, Shinji was blinking hard at his desk, trying to comprehend the situation at hand. 'That was the first time I've actually learnt something while going to this school!' His thoughts were interrupted quickly (this seems to be a theme is this kid's life) by some prodding on his right shoulder.

"Ummm, are you actually gonna get up, or do you always sit here during lunch?"

Having been snapped back to consciousness, Shinji looked up to the origin of the remark to see the face of a slightly confused Rei. "Oh yah, sorry… guess I kinda' zoned out there for a minute. Where do you wanna eat? The Cafeteria, or the Roof?"

Rei had to think this one over for a bit.

'Well… If this guy IS a stalker, the cafeteria would probably be safer. But then again, the roof would probably be more comfortable. Ah to hell with it… this guy's too small to jump a 3rd grader.'

"The roof sounds like nice a nice idea to me!"

Shinji felt the weight fall from his back with that response. Alternative universe or not, he couldn't figure that the cafeteria food would be any good. (That and he didn't want anybody listening in). He gave Rei a small smile and said, "Alright then, just grab your lunch and we can head up!"

On the way up to the roof, Shinji realized something. He was screwed. If Rei really couldn't remember anything about NERV and the Evas, then there was no way he could explain things to her without her thinking he's a madman. He was either going to have to change the subject VERY quickly, or try to revive her memory. The first idea was sounding quite appealing at the time.

"So, Ayanami, you're new to this area right?"

Rei looked back at him while walking up the stairs, "Yah, I've been living here for about a week now. Today's my first day going to school here!" She seemed to be joyful about it, which was strange for Shinji. It would be hard to adjust seeing Rei with normal human emotions. After thinking about it for a while, Shinji realized that he had as much to find out about Rei as she did about him.

Was she still a "clone"?

Was she still part angel?

Or was she just like any other kid in this new world?

He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't realize that he was about to walk off the roof. "Hey, watch it! Don't think you'd wanna take a spill from up here!" Rei joked as he walked back to where she was already sitting, opening her bento. He sat down across from her, pulled out his own bento and replied, "Yah, don't think it would've been that pleasant…"

Luckily for Shinji, about half of the lunch period was spent in silence, with both confused teens eating their lunch in peace. But Shinji knew the question that was coming, and braced himself for the inevitable when he saw her about to speak

"Hey, what's your name anyway? I've been hanging around you this whole time and I don't even know your name."

Shinji let out a sigh of relief. 'A momentary reprieve !'

"I'm Shinji Ikari, nice to meet you Ayanami!"

He gave a slight bow and quickly asked her a question before she could get to her more feared one. "So, how do you think you're going to like it here in Tokyo 3?"

Rei had a small look of discontent on her face before she responded, "It's a nice place, but I've had to move so much over the last few years, I don't know how long I'm gonna be here…" She let out a small sigh and looked up at the sky, "It sucks… Not being able to stay in one place long enough to even make any friends. Not being able to get used to a town, I wish we could just stop moving!"

'Opportunity!' Shinji's mind yelled at him. And for once in his life, Shinji followed his instincts. "We could be friends if you'd like, Ayanami."

Rei's following smile and small chuckle at his request had Shinji mystified. While he had seen her smile, he had never before heard her laugh. "I'd like that Ikari-kun, thanks…"

The plan seemed to have worked. Rei looked like she had completely forgotten about why they had come up here to begin with. The rest of lunch was drained away by questions about each other, and about the Tokyo 3 area. As Shinji checked his watch and alerted Rei that they should get back to class, Rei decided to spook him one last time. "Don't think you've gotten off the hook about the knowing my name thing! I'll get you to talk one of these days!"

Shinji gulped and gave a small chuckle. "Alright, but you'd probably think I'm a madman for it. I already know Asuka will…"

"Asuka? Is she that red haired girl that was walking with you earlier?" Rei inquired.

"Yah, that's her. Do you wanna meet her by any chance? I think you two would get along fine!"

Rei looked hesitant for only a split second, before she replied, "Sure! That'd be nice!"

Hearing that brought a smile to Shinji's face as they both entered the classroom and took their seats. Shinji surveyed the room and noticed that both Kensuke and Touji were eying him with wide grins on their faces, while Asuka's jaw probably couldn't have dropped any lower. (Unless she put a hole in the desk of course).

Shinji then took a quick second to think over the situation 'Shinji and new girl meet, sit next to each other, go to roof devoid of other students, come back smiling, and acting like nothing had happened… ah shit…'

"Yes guys?"

Touji seemed to want playing the long game today, quickly flinching and looking around the room, "Oh, nuthin! Nuthin at all Shin-man! Don't be mindn' us, right Kensuke?" Kensuke seemed a bit confused until he saw the sharp glare coming from Touji, "Yah! Nothing at all, just watching you come in with the new girl!"

Shinji rolled his eyes and got out his supplies for the next class as Misato came back in. "Alright class! Where were we?"

* * *

"Alright class! That'll be all for today, you know the drill If you're on duty, you stay, if not, head on home!"

After waiting for The Routine to end, Shinji got up and stretched before looking around the room. As expected, a few people were almost 'racing' to get to him first. Touji from his left, Kensuke from his right, and Asuka from behind. Needless to say, he needed to get out of there…

"Hey Aya-" "SHINJI! WHAT THE HE-" "Asuka!"

The 2nd interruption was not expected by Shinji. "You have clean up duty today Asuka! Don't be trying to get out of it now!"

If looks could kill, I wouldn't be here writing this now. "Yes Misato-sensei…"

"You two also! Suzuhara! Aida! Get back here!" The class rep shouted from outside the door. It appeared that their escape plan had failed. This was Shinji's chance to get out of a potentially very bad situation, "Anyways, you want to walk home with me, Ayanami? You said you haven't been here very long, I could show you some places on the way home."

Rei looked over at Asuka, before turning back and asking Shinji, "Are you sure it's alright?"

"She's just a friend of mine, it's not like we're going out or something." He responded quickly.

Rei lightened up at this new information much more than Shinji thought she would. "Alright then! Lets go!" She grabbed him by the wrist and led him out of the building.

"If that little tramp does one thing to Shinji… I swear…"

"What was that about Shinji, Asuka?" Kensuke slyly remarked.

Asuka didn't think that Hikari had succeeded in getting those two back so quickly, and was in turn surprised when Kensuke popped up back her like that. "Ah, Nothing! Get back to work!"

Not wanting to get in any violent situations this afternoon, Kensuke wisely followed her advice and got back to scrubbing the chalkboard. 'Sure hope Shin-man will be able to survive the week with that one on his heel…'

* * *

After walking down the streets that separated the Tokyo 3 Municipal High School from Rei Ayanami's house, they had arrived at their destination. Shinji had been pointing out most of the great aspects of the city. He showed her restaurants, arcades, theatres, he even knew where a few secret bomb shelters were (strangely enough). Overall, it had been a great experience in the eyes of the almost Albino-like girl. Shinji seemed pretty nervous the whole time though, and Rei just couldn't quite figure out why. 'He's not acting like he's flirting or something… its almost as if he's been thinking about something else this whole time.'

"Ikari-kun? Is everything alright? You seem kinda distant."

Shinji had indeed been deep in thought, but he REALLY didn't want to reveal any part of his thought process to Rei. 'I'm already gonna have to talk about it once tonight… I really don't want to have to go through the same torment twice.'

Yes, Shinji was contemplating everything that had happened to him this day. In the blink of an eye, he had been brought from the destruction of the world, to a seemingly peaceful world, where all of his peers and family had led a normal life. Why was it just him? Why was he the only one who still had any memories of this terrible past? At least in the old world, there were people who could understand him, there were people who knew…

But here, he would just be looked down upon, he would be dubbed a madman.

'Though I could certainly try to get used to living this kind of life…' "Yah Ayanami, I'm fine, I was just zoning out again…"

"Well, we're here!"

Shinji looked up, and found himself staring at a very, very familiar building. He started to pay more attention to his surroundings, the sounds of construction in the background… sure enough, they were right in front of Rei's apartment in Shinji's old life. 'You're… kidding me…' "This, this is where you live Ayanami?"

She nodded, "Its really not as bad as it looks from the outside, I've fixed it up quite a bit!" She began to enter the building, "Thanks for walking with me today Ikari-kun! I had a great time!"

Shinji could only stand there, and dumbly stare back. He nodded, and turned around. He had to get away from this place, get away from his memories… He began to run, and he had no plans of stopping anytime soon…

After about an hour of wondering the city, Shinji found himself looking up at his parent's apartment. 'No matter how far I run, I always manage to find my way back to this place…' He entered the building, took the elevator up, and entered the door to his home. "I'm home!"

Shinji saw his mother peek her head out from around the corner, "Welcome home Shinji!" She then pointed towards his door, "Asuka's been waiting for you for about an hour now, where were you?"

'Well, looks like I'm gonna be discussing it with her after all.' "I was just at the arcade with Touji and Kensuke, we kinda lost track of the time!"

While Yui had a slightly stern face for a second, she quickly smiled and responded, "Alright, but could you at least call us next time? Its always good to know your children haven't been kidnapped."

Shinji snickered, and decided it was time to finally face the inevitable. He walked towards his room, and opened the door. As expected, Asuka was sitting on his bed, looking through one of his mangas when he arrived. "Alright baka, may the explaining begin!"

Shinji sat in his computer chair, and gave Asuka a serious look. "After hearing this, you're gonna think I'm nuts, so this is your last chance to back out."

Asuka snorted a bit and responded with a humorous tone in her voice, "You've been insane for a while now, so you're gonna have to work hard to shock me."

Shinji still had that hard face, but he sighed, "Then you'd better be ready to hear the craziest story that you'll ever be hearing…"

Asuka simply nodded.

…And so he began.

* * *

**Hmmm, wonder how many of these chapters i'm gonna be leaving on the edge like that? Oh yah! ALL OF EM! (Sadistic laughter) Well, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! Please leave reviews if you enjoyed it, or wish to say something about the story! Flame if you must, I'll just laugh you off anyhow, so go right ahead and waste your time flaming me if you so desire, just one more review for me:D**


	3. Chapter 3

Uhh... yah. Its 2:00 in the morning, and I really dont feel like having too many authors notes, so i'll get right to the point. Heres chappy 3, enjoy!

Pre-read done by Voidhawk of the Phoenix Souls. Danke mein Freund!

EVA's not mine. If you didnt know that beforehand, then you're too stupid to be reading this in the first place, go away.

_

* * *

_

_Shinji snickered, and decided it was time to finally face the inevitable. He walked towards his room, and opened the door. _

_As expected, Asuka was sitting on his bed, looking through one of his mangas when he arrived. "Alright baka, may the explaining begin?"_

_Shinji sat in his computer chair, and gave Asuka a serious look. "After hearing this, you're gonna think I'm nuts, so this is your last chance to back out."_

_Asuka snorted a bit and responded with a humorous tone in her voice, "You've been insane for a while now, so you're gonna have to work hard to shock m."_

_Shinji still had that hard face on, and he sighed, "Then you'd better be ready to hear the craziest story that you'll ever be hearing…"_

_Asuka simply nodded._

…_And so he began…_

* * *

I want you to imagine a confused, utterly shocked expression that would put anyone to shame. 

Alright, got that?

Good.

Now I want you to imagine that expression pinned to the face of a certain 15-year-old red-haired German girl who has just been the brunt of an explanation of her friend's behavior involving giant robots, crazy depiction of all destroying angels, and the end of the world.

Ok, now freeze! Hold that there for a minute or so. If that mental image can't bring a grin to your face, just stop reading now.

* * *

"…So, that's your reason for acting so strange today Shinji?" Asuka asked, still shocked. 

Shinji could only nod dumbly while staring at the floor, contemplating whether or not he should have just revealed his innermost thoughts.

'Please believe me, please believe me, please believe me…' Shinji prayed silently to no one in particular.

He couldn't return to the blissful ignorance of some hours ago now, the truth was out. Either she'd believe him, or dub him a madman. 'Oh God, please… I have no one else to turn to…'

A few moments of silence ensued between Shinji and Asuka, and were eventually broken by a few calmly, yet broken words from the female occupant of the room.

"I…I have to go now"

Shinji looked up only to find himself staring straight into the doubtful yet concerned face of Asuka Langley Sohryu.

"Shinji, get some help for these… dreams, okay?" She said in a concerned voice, turning and leaving Shinji to his own thoughts.

Time would pass, and Shinji would eventually look back at this moment and consider how he could've handled it differently. But for the time being, all he could do was stay sitting in his chair, and watch one of his best friends leave him, thinking he was going insane. There was nothing he could've done to convince her, nothing he could have done to sway her mind…

"Why me, damnit all…? Why me…?" Was the last thing he said before deciding to retire for the night. This day had been too ridiculous. Who knew, maybe he would just wake up back in the ending phases of Third Impact… Maybe this had all just been some sort of vision.

'Yes, this is all just some kind of strange scenario, that's it! It's all being imagined! I'll just wake back up tomorrow and everything will be back to normal! I'm sure of it!' Were his last coherent thoughts before blissfully drifting into unconsciousness.

Its good to have faith in things that you believe in. But it is not wise to drape your very sanity on the hinges of one idealistic dream.

* * *

Shinji was never one to dream in his sleep. He was generally at peace with himself, and didn't question the World around him either. He had long ago accepted that he was a coward wimp, a weak-minded fool who couldn't do a thing right for himself or anyone else. 

He had long ago accepted the World that he lived in wasn't going to change, that he would have to adapt to the insanity of the war against Angels ( …and weren't Angels supposed to be representations of purity, Messengers of God? The very nature of the enemy was a mystery to Shinji. A bad joke thrown into humanity's own arrogant face). But being locked inside of this new "World", it brought his subconscious to a new, uncomfortable level. A level that had his mind wondering, even in sleep. Any moment of sleep he got that night, didn't help him one bit.

His recurring dreams of the Pre-Third Impact World had him awake for a good part of the night

He tossed and turned, remembering the disastrous occurrences of his past. He dreamt of his first time arriving at Tokyo 3, of his horrific first battle with Sachiel, the Third Angel.

He dreamt of both him and Rei enduring the vicious blasts of the Fifth, Ramiel, and of being swallowed by the Twelfth, Leliel.

He dreamt of Asuka's last bit of sanity being taken away by the Fifteenth, Arael, and of watching Rei's very life being taken away before his eyes by the Sixteenth, Armisael, only to find both her and her many terrible secrets very much alive.

And finally, before waking with a start, he dreamt of destroying the life of the only friend he had had left in that World. He dreamt of crushing the Seventeenth, Tabris, Kaworu Nagisa, with his own hands.

In his defense, he did manage to keep the scream he let loose while regaining consciousness relatively quiet. Although in retrospect, it wouldn't have really mattered, because it was of such a high pitch that only he and the neighborhood dogs would have heard it where it any louder. Shinji found himself sweating profusely, grabbing onto his bed sheets so firmly it felt like his knuckles were about to snap under the pressure. The previous night's assault of images appeared to be too much for the boy, as he curled up into a ball under the covers, and just lay there while shivering, hoping that everything would just end.

* * *

Yui was concerned now. This was the fifth time that she had called into his room for him to get up. Normally he would at least be making some low grunting sounds by the third or so, but today, there was nothing. 'Alright then, making it difficult for me today… huh?', she thought as she began to open his door to wake him in a more effective manner. "Hey, Shinji, it's time to get up and get ready! You're already la-…" 

"I'm not going mom…" He interrupted her quietly, still underneath his bed sheets. "I feel like shit, I wouldn't make it through first period."

Yui hesitated for a moment before dismissing the need to continue her last statement, and continued on with her new thoughts. "Alright, I guess it won't hurt, it IS Friday after all…" she concluded before walking back out the door, not even bothering to close it.

'Thank God.' He thought as he heard the sound of footsteps falling further and further away from his resting spot. He knew he wouldn't have been able to make it through the day, but for completely different reasons than the one he gave to his mother. 'I would've snapped under the pressure, someone would've been bound to find out… Asuka would tell Hikari, Hikari would tell her close friends… it'd be around in no time, Shinji Ikari the psycho.'

His thoughts were derailed momentarily by the sound of renewed footsteps making their way towards his door. "I'm heading out Shinji! I made a lunch for you and put it in the fridge for later, ok? It's in the brown paper bag." She paused for a second, then concluded her statement, "Hope you feel better, you know my cell number if anything happens."

"Alright mom, thanks. Bye." He responded as he heard the door closing, and the footsteps slowly beginning to drown out until yet another door was locked and closed in the distance. Then there was silence, and Shinji drifted back into a now beneficial sleep. Effectively exhausted by the previous night

* * *

Yui Ikari sighed as she boarded the train that would take her to work. 

Today would be the day she was supposed to alert Shinji as to what he would be going through over the next year or so of his life. But with the way he had acted that morning, he just didn't look like he could've taken it.

'The boy looked like he was under enough pressure. I doubt telling him would've gone over very well…' She knew Gendo and Fuyutsuki-sensei weren't going to be very happy about her stalling, but the two head honchos of NERV were just going to have to be a little reasonable today.

* * *

The typical atmosphere of classroom 2-A was lacking something this morning in Tokyo 3 Municipal Junior High. This certain something being quickly identified by a certain 2/3 of a 3 stooges. 

"Hey Sohryu! Any idea where Shinji is this morning?" Asked a slightly concerned Kensuke.

"Yah, his disappearance wouldn't have anything to do with you now, would it, Devil Girl?" Seconded Touji as he absent-mindedly doodled on his desk, notably not quite as concerned as his goony counterpart.

The first question caught Asuka off guard, even though she knew she should've been ready for it. She did have to drag his ass in there every morning after all. Her work on a superficial answer was placed a bit further down the "To Do List" below "Ripping Suzuhara a new asshole" when she heard the second one though.

Hikari noticed the smoke starting to emit from Asuka's ears, and decided it would probably be in the classmates (mostly Suzuhara's) best interests if she intervened right about now.

"Touji, shut it for a minute." She snapped, then turned her attention to Asuka, "But seriously, do you have any idea where Ikari is this morning? Normally he walks in with you…"

After again editing her To Do List, Asuka churned out the most logical, sensible, non-debatable answer she could think of in 1.3 seconds- " I dunno." -and then mentally grinned at her own inner genius.

Hikari was not amused, but before she could get in anymore of a say on the matter, the class bell went off, and she set off to perform "The Routine" She would have time to worry about Ikari's whereabouts after school.

This was not the mind set of a certain Rei Ayanami just a few seats away. She had witnessed the entire conversation between Asuka and the Stooges, and did not wear a happy expression on her face. 'He didn't seem very ill yesterday on the walk home… something's going on here.'

"Rei! Stop spacing off and pay attention to the attendance please!" Barked Misato, "It's hard enough to keep track of you new kids as it is!" After a small chuckle from the surrounding students, she too decided that this matter would have to be settled later.

Shinji found himself slowly waking up from his nap, and immediately noticed one thing, he couldn't feel his right arm.

After freaking out for a total of about 14 seconds, he groggily realized that he was sleeping on it, and calmed down enough to take a peek at the digital clock sitting on the desk across the room. "4:32! Wow… didn't think I was that exhausted."

While it was true he had slept the majority of the day away, he felt amazingly better than he had the same morning. The previous night's events were almost forgotten about for the time being, and replaced by an equally anguishing hunger.

'Ah damnit… I haven't eaten since lunch with Ayanami yesterday, have I?' He realized, his stomach growling rather profusely.

In some blurry memory from earlier that day, he recalled the words, "mother", "lunch", "bag", and "fridge". It took a few minutes for him to piece together that that meant he could eat, in his current state, but he figured it out nonetheless and got up to head for the kitchen.

Still groggy, it took him a bit longer than usual to determine that the bathroom and the kitchen were QUITE different rooms, and to head in the right direction, but he eventually made it to his destination and got his food. It wasn't anything too extravagant, a small sandwich and an apple. But he wasn't exactly picky at the moment. If he was still hungry afterwards, he'd just heat himself up some instant ramen or something. He took the first bite of the apple, and for the first time in the last couple of weeks, was at peace.

All good things however have a tendency to be interrupted in this story.

* * *

A couple of floors down, two young girls could be seen walking through the lobby towards the elevator. At the same time, they were there for identical, yet different reasons They were both concerned, but each in a different way. 

"So… Ayanami-san, why did you come along with me?" The first asked a little cautiously to Rei, afraid of offending her in any way.

"First off, you can call me Rei." She said rather quickly to the nervous girl. "Secondly Horaki-san, two reasons. I never got to see where he lived, and…to be perfectly honest… I think that Sohryu-san did something to him…"

The second reason was semi-anticipated, but the first surprised her a bit. Nevertheless (Holy shit, that's one word!), she determined it was none of her business, and got back to the topic on hand. "You can call me Hikari too, Rei-san But yah… I'm pretty sure that something did happen with those two, you almost never see them apart normally unless he's hanging out with Aida and Suzuhara."

The conversation stopped for a brief instant as Hikari pressed the button to open the elevator, but was then quickly resumed by Rei's questioning. "Are they really a couple then?"

Hikari shook her head sadly. "You'd think that they would be after all this time, but no." Rei's head picked up noticeably at that answer "They've just been really good friends since Asuka moved here from Germany with her parents."

While the elevator beeped to indicate their arrival, Hikari could've sworn for a split second she saw a look of absolute glee in Rei's eyes, but quickly dismissed it to focus on the task at hand. "Well, here we go. His family's room is right over here."

* * *

Shinji was in heaven, to put it in lamest terms. He had cooked for Misato and Asuka for so long he had forgotten the simple pleasures of non-complicated foodstuffs. 'Who would've thought an apple could taste so freaking good!' 

His blissful state was however interrupted (as I hinted upon earlier) by the distinct buzzing of the front doorbell. He begrudgingly put down his cherished apple, and made his way towards the door. As he opened it, he found himself looking into both an expected face, and a surprise one. "Hikari-san… Ayanami! What can I do for you two?"

Hikari was the first to speak up, "Well, I think you know why I'm here. Here's the printouts you missed from today." Shinji took the papers from her and observed them for a moment before doing the only thing he could think of with them both standing outside like this. "You two can come inside you know…"

"We don't want to intrude…" Hikari said a little too nervously for Rei's liking, but was quickly taken away from thoughts like that as Shinji dismissed Hikari's concerns and went back to the kitchen.

"It is ok. Come inside!" He said, while motioning for them to come in.

After laying the papers down on the kitchen table, Shinji sat down and went back to eating his very late lunch. Only pausing to signal to the rooms two females that they could sit down as well. "So, did I miss anything terribly interesting while I was gone today?"

Rei was the one to speak up this time.

"No, not really. Everything that was covered in the lectures were included in the printouts Hikari-san gave you." Rei looked to Shinji to see if he was following, then continued, "But that's not why I'm here…"

Shinji almost choked on what was left of his apple after hearing that. He looked up and allowed her to finish her statement. "Did something happen with you and Asuka yesterday? Hikari-san said that you two normally walk in together… but this morning, she said she didn't even know why you were missing."

A sense of dread instantly formed itself in Shinji's mind. It was hard enough trying to explain everything to his 'confidant' in Asuka. How the hell was he supposed to divulge things like this to two girls he barely even knew in this new world?

"No… nothing happened, I just got sick this morning… and… called Asuka's mom to tell her she didn't need to come over." As he finished twiddling his thumbs, he looked up and found that neither girl was really buying that explanation.

"Try again Ikari-kun." They both chorused back at him. It was then that Rei spoke again: "We're worried about you, just tell us what happened… ok? We'll try to help you…" Her eyes really conveyed concern for the troubled boy.

Shinji took a deep sigh, and decided. 'To hell with it all… I might as well get it out so that everyone can think I'm a madman.' "Alright… I'm going to tell you the reasons why have been acting so "strange" lately. Though I want to warn you, this explanation is why Asuka avoided me this morning."

Both girls expressions turned serious, and Hikari responded, "We'll try to help you get through whatever it is, I'm sure Asuka will as well once she gets some time to herself."

Shinji could do nothing but chuckle at that last statement, which needless to say left a rather confused look on the face of Hikari. "I'm serious you know!"

"I know, I know.." Shinji quickly replied, "But you're going to think I'm a madman too once I'm done with this little explanation. Are you ready?" Both girls nodded to him, though Hikari seemed rather anxious to hear his reasons. "Alright then, don't say I didn't warn you…"

* * *

Naoko Akagi took one long, last sip of her coffee as she looked over the final mechanical projections of the day. 

'Tests took a lot longer then I thought they would. She's one unsupportive bitch when it comes to running tests on the control systems…' She turned her head when she heard the door open to her left. "Ah, Yui, can I help you with something?"

Yui just yawned and took a dramatic slumping seat into the lab chair across from Naoko. "Nah… just wanted to chat for a bit, don't really feel like heading home yet."

Naoko nodded in understanding and decided she might as well bring up the first topic, "So, do you think these things will actually be able to pull through for us?" Yui looked up as if confused at first, but was then quick to respond, looking at the big screen in front of them.

"Of course! We've been working on these systems for the last 10 years… It'll be more than enough to protect the children when the time comes!" She smiled cheerfully, but was quickly brought down by the next question from the elderly Akagi.

"Does he know about it?"

The rather sudden face fault from her corresponding chair indicated that she obviously had not explained it to him. "…Yui dear… care to go for a little walk?"

As Yui recovered and stood back up, she nodded and followed her out the door.

"You do know what kind of repercussions it could have if he goes into shock about this whole thing, right?" Naoko shot, without any warning.

Yui nodded grimly, her face simply looking downwards at her feet. "I know… I just haven't been able to find it in me to tell him so far… I was going to do it this morning, but he looked rather sick as it was, he didn't even go to school." She sighed, slumping her shoulders a bit.

"Well, that could be a problem for the first manual tests tomorrow. Actually get to see if the linking system works, we wouldn't want him in bad physical shape." The doctor replied, now looking slightly concerned. "Make sure he feels better by 5:00 pm tomorrow, and make sure you tell him tonight, ok?"

Yui looked at the door that the pair were walking towards, and froze, halting suddenly.

"Yah, I don't really have much of a choice… Rei's known for a while now, and I can't just go dragging him in here without an explanation." She added, rather briskly.

Naoko nodded simply in agreement.

"Well, thanks for the conversation, I'm heading home!" She said, turning on her heels and speeding up towards the exit halls.

Naoko watched as her friend and co-worker lightly jogged off down the hallway and out of sight before opening the door and walking inside onto the catwalk.

"Funny, I guess she's never really liked seeing you unless she has to, huh girl?" She asked to the empty room. Naoko looked straight forward into the darkened giant eyes of the enormous form in front of her and chuckled. "Oh well, she'll have plenty of time to get used to you from tomorrow on…"

* * *

Yep, ooo, ahhh. Make what you want of it, I had fun with that last scene. Hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Read and review please, I enjoy the feedback, both positive and negative.

-Da Plague


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry that this fic takes so long for me to update, but I've got a busy life as of late... It'll only be 2 or three more chapters, so you won't have to put up with my laziness much longer!**

**Enjoy! **

-Da Plague

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**Chapter 4: Part 1;**

'Well', Shinji thought while looking into the stunned faces of both Rei Ayanami and Hikari Horaki, 'Isn't this just spectacular?'

For the second time in two nights, Shinji had managed to stun people with the story of his 'past'. For the second straight night, he would be deemed a madman. It wasn't like he really cared about the world's opinion of him at the moment, but he had still let himself hold onto the distant dream that at least _one of them_ wouldn't end up scorning him by the time they left his apartment. But by the looks on their faces, that dream, like so many before it. would too end up being shattered. "Look.. I'm sorry I made you both listen to that, feel free to leave…"

After registering what he said, Hikari responded almost automatically, "You didn't _make us _listen to anything Ikari-kun!" While she was extremely…perturbed at the moment, she _did _still want to help him, "Look, maybe we ca-"

"Hikari-san, may I ask for you to leave the two of us alone for a few moments?" Hikari looked over to the other resident of the room, having temporarily forgotten about her, and bit her tongue when she saw the serious look that was spread across her features. Feeling that the situation was under control for now, she simply nodded, and stepped outside the door, closing it quietly behind her.

A few seconds of silence ensued, adding to the anxiety that was hovering above it's two occupants already. Both looked as if they didn't particularly wish to be the first to speak, but in the end, Shinji's mind could bear the silence no longer, "She.. Asuka already told me I should go get help, I know.. I'm just sorry you had to put up with my ranting."

Rei held a lithe smile on her face, before answering, "It's alright, I just didn't think your mother had it in her to actually let you see the Evangelions already, let alone go in one of them."

"Well, yah.. You know how she is, never changes." Shinji retorted, absent-mindedly shaking his head back and forth slowly, before he noted a particularly odd part of that statement, "Wait.. **Let me _see_ **the Evangelions? They actually _exist_!"

Of all the statements Rei had expected from her soon-to-be fellow pilot, that was not very high on, or on in general, the list at all, "Wha.. Then she hasn't even _told_ you about them yet!" The blank look being returned to her was enough of an answer to keep her going, "Then how do you.. Why can you..? Are they premonitions or something? Hey! That's it! You already saw what's gonna happen! This is great!"

After about the 2nd comment, Shinji had stopped listening entirely, and was submerged in his own thoughts, 'They can't actually be real.. This world is normal! 2nd Impact never happened! No angels, no Eva, no NERV, no nothing!... Right?'

"..Rei?" Shinji asked. While she was a bit shocked at the use of her first name, he concluded his question very quickly, "Why are they here too? Why do they have to haunt me again..? Why!"

She was surprised by his outburst, to say the least. Why was he so scared of something he had never been shown? What are these visions of his? Could they help to achieve Commander Ikari's scenario in the end? She was about to try and calm him down, when a bag could be heard dropping in back of the pair. Rei and Shinji both turned around quickly, tears now notably trickling down Shinji's cheeks, to see an utterly devastated look on one of the room's new occupants.

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Asuka was having trouble deciphering her friend's situation, and it showed in just about any activity she had tried to engage in for the majority of the day. She couldn't concentrate on a good half of her test in History, Hikari's attempts at conversation were blown down for the most part, her being too lost in her own thoughts.. A long story made short, it had been a rough day. Shinji had had weird dreams before. Hell, his parents sent him to the children's psychiatrist more than a few times when he was young. But this time around.. He seemed so utterly devastated when it came to these dreams. They were apparently so real, he believed them to be part of his past.

She had to try and help him.. Had to try and help him snap out of whatever state he was because of these dreams. It was her duty as a friend after all…..That and she had to find some way to apologize for just walking out on him yesterday, after he had spilled his guts on the subject. 'I just hope he hasn't done something stupid out of depression, like slit his wri-..' That thought hadn't entered her mind before, and the resulting emotions had her running at a full sprint towards Shinji's apartment, thoughts void of any traffic that may have been making its way through the busy roads of Rush Hour Tokyo 3, 'Oh God.. Shinji! Please be alright..'

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It had been a long day for Gendo Ikari. Especially after Yui made fun of him for staying the late shift… again. While he still felt his stance on the matter was decent (Somebody has to make sure that the other late workers don't try to set up any practical jokes for the rest of our innocent organization, Yui!), he had begun to slip more and more to Yui's teasing. Maybe he should leave early, Fuyutsuki-sensei was more than able to handle things on his- "HOLY SHIT!"

Gendo barely managed to swerve into the opposite lane in time, crashing lightly into an opposing streetlight, but somehow managing to avoid running over the stupid bitch running across the road. After pushing the airbag down slightly, he opened the door to his car, and immediately went over to check to see if Ms. J-Walker was alright.

Apparently today wasn't his day with beating people to the verbal punch, however. "Mr. Ikari! Is that you! Gosh, are you alright?" A worried voice from the now clearly identifiable Asuka Langley Sohryu asked.

Having recognized his fellow citizen, he smiled lightly and responded in a light voice, "Yes, I'm fine Asuka-chan. You aren't hurt are you?" She shook her head 'no' rather quickly, and responded within the second, a look of extreme apprehension and discomfort on her face, "I'm fine, but we need to get to your apartment, I'm afraid something might've happened to Shinji!"

It took a few seconds for Gendo to really digest what Asuka had said. No, he wasn't slow. He just wasn't really used to the idea of Shinji being in any dangerous situations before, and only one thought was reigning supreme in his mind. 'Did he not take the news of the Evangelion Project well? It could indeed be dangerous to his mental state if he takes the news in a bad way…'

Asuka squeaked slightly as she was grabbed by the wrist, and led quickly to the slightly-wreaked car on the side of the road. Gendo let go of her to go inspect the front, and gave her a quick thumbs up signaling her to take a seat in the passenger's before he ran as rapidly as he could around the front to the driver's seat. After speedily starting the engine and backing out, the little black sedan sped off towards it's destination, with the car's two occupants worried about the situation in almost perfect synchrony.

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The sight that greeted Yui Ikari when she arrived home.. Was not a pretty one, to say the least. Up until now, she had enjoyed her day. She got to talk with Naoko, got to tease stiff little Gen-chan, she hadn't even had any problems at the grocery store! But what dose she come home to? The representative of Shinji's class had been standing outside the door when she arrived, looking rather nervous and confused. She quickly asked Yui to step inside, and she immediately dropped her grocery bags when the sight in front of her began to register in her mind. Shinji, down to his knees on the floor, apparently having a breakdown.. And was that Rei..?

"..What's going on here?" She asked, half wanting to know, yet half not to. For the presence of Rei wasn't exactly helping her reject the most likely reason he would be in this state. 'She must've told him about Eva… that's the only reason he would be like this!'

Rei, who now seemed to want to remain quiet, shifted uncomfortably away from the table, and eventually stood up from her seat, and walked over to the door. She looked at Hikari, and then back at Yui, before saying but one thing, "I think you two have some things to talk about.."

Yui sighed. That was the reason then.. He knew now. She was secretly hoping that it would never come down to this, but she knew she'd have to explain everything to him eventually. 'Ah, to hell with it..' she thought, 'Might as well get it over with once and for all..'

She motioned for Rei and Hikari to leave, which they did after taking one last look at a slightly more composed Shinji. Waiting to hear a satisfactory 'click' from behind to signal that the two were indeed absent from the room, she began the dreaded conversation in the only way she could think of, "..So you know?"

Shinji just stared at her, a pained look in his eyes. That was all the answer she needed.. If only she had some kind of backbone.. She could've told him earlier! "I'm sorry Shinji, I should've told you earlier.. Do you want to talk about it?"

Shinji started to chuckle a bit, which startled her somewhat. Him finding the conversation amusing wasn't exactly the first thing she had in her mind. "It's not as simple as you think it is, mother.. This is a rather strange situation.."

That much, she could understand. Not everybody was stuck having to pilot giant robots to save humanity from the messengers of an apparently pissed off God.. "I know.. But we _need you _to pilot, we _need you _to fight the angels an-"

"And what? Fight the angels, fight each other, fight my friends, watch my friends die, be a pawn to father's scenario, and help start third impact!" He ended his rant to take a look at his mother's face. It held a look of shock to say the least, with maybe just a dash of confusion.. He decided to end with on a bit of a sarcastic note, "I think I'll pass, thank you very much.. Eva has given me enough pain.."

'What does he mean by that! He's never even seen the thing before!' "What are you talking about, Shinji! Why the hell would we want a THIRD impact? The 2nd one nearly blew Antarctica to high hell! I don't even want to know what would've happened if the 1st angel hadn't been contained!"

"Care for me to tell you?" Shinji asked disdainfully, "I'd be more than happy too.. Might give you some insight on why I've been acting so strange recently."

"Now look here… stop being so stub-" That last bit caught Yui's attention, and had her deciding to postpone her 'ratting out of Shinji' for the time being, "Alright then… do tell."

A small chuckle could be heard coming from Shinji's mouth again, before he stood up and began pacing around the room. After about the second time passing by the door to the living room, he seemed to have chosen the words he had been looking for, "Have you ever felt like you're having an out of body experience? Like you've been pulled from reality, and just can't seem to be able to find your way back to yourself?"

Yui pondered that for a moment, and decidedly shook her head no, "But I have heard about things like that on the news. It tends to happen a lot with people who are on the verge of dying, but manage to pull through.."

Shinji nodded, and walked over to the same table he had been seated at earlier. He picked up the salt container, and started twiddling with it with his left hand, leaning against the wall with his right, "Yah, that sounds about right…" he said before getting off the wall, and taking a seat in a chair placed at the table. It was beginning to get late, and the darkness was making it rather difficult to even see the wall opposite of yourself. It made for a perfect environment for this conversation to be held in, "I _was_ on the verge of death because of those God damned things.."

A sharp intake of breath could be heard from Yui, followed by a vast silence in the room. Minutes passed, and rain could be heard beginning to tatter on the window to the far side of the room. The breathing of both of the room's occupants could be identified easily within the emptiness of the household.. And then, the somewhat far-off, yet unmistakable sound of a car coming to a stop outside.


End file.
